This is an article reproduced from the Maywood town paper(a town which is next to Hackensack) Thanks to Vince Santarelli for this article.
Page Six THE MONITOR January 2, 1973
Monitor at WWDJ by Ken Mosier
DJ's BEST D J: Sean Casey
At a recent visit to WWDJ, I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Sean Casey. This article is the result of that meeting. Sean Casey started out playing with a band in which he wrote and released a few discs, but people started telling him to find out what he wanted to do because nothing was going to happen with the band. Sean never planned to go to broadcasting school. But as a result of his band's failure, and the enjoyment of music, and a suggestion of a friend to go to broadcasting school, Sean went to Philadelphia. During the school year, WDAS-FM in Philadelphia had an opening which his graduating class all auditioned for. Sean won the audition and as a result this was his first job. Six months later, Sean graduated, but as he replied “Everyone graduated as long as you were paid up”. After graduation from the school, Sean left the Phillie station for a station in Dover Delaware where he spent a year. Moving onward, Sean left that station for a station in Trenton where he also spent a year. Then he went back to Philadelphia to WIBG which Sean replied “it broadcasted at 50,000 watts, that was the big time.” Then he went to WOR-FM in New York where Mr. Casey spent 3 years. After that stint. he moved up to the FM dial to WPLJ-FM. Asked about what he thought of free format, which WPLJ claimed, he answered “a station has to follow a form basis. A station will fall without guidelines. This has been proven with the station WPLJ o however, just changed to a format of colored index cards when I got there.Blue index cards with blue letters on red letters, were what they started to use. They then would say play a red, blue record this hour.” His basic reason for station hopping was that he will work wherever the money is ! At WWDJ. Sean Casey has no engineers, he runs his own board. Sean made note that when he was at WOR, WPLJ and WIBG he didn't do anything except ask for the mike when he wanted to go on the air. Engineers controlled working the board. He stated “This is why you should be able to do everything. You never .know when a situation arises and you'll need a specific amount of knowledge to do it.” The material in Sean's show is picked by Nick Anthony, program director, as he does for all the shows. Some of the ideas on what to play came from the home office of Southern and Pacific. Sean, however, has the authority to pull numbers that sound alike so that he can keep a balance. For example, Sean has three piles, A,B, and C. He picks one from A, then one from B, and so on. If on the A pile there is “Beautiful Sunday” and on the. B pile there is “It Never Rains in Southern California”, to Sean these two sound alike and therefore he would mix them. He stated “I wouldn't plan the Stylistics back to back with the Four Tops. This keeps the show balanced at all times. WWDJ's reach out to the public is not as far as WABC, but in 2 years time made an overwhelming success. The success as I see it, Sean notes, is in the programming. The key to success of any station is in the programming.” I stated the fact that DJ is more rock and roll where as ABC is more of Top 40 station. But lately, Top 40 is creeping into DJ's format. Sean's rebuttal to my statements was “We always had the theory of it's a hit no matter who it's by, Perry Como, Donny Osmond, the Doors, Alice Cooper. We're gonna play it.” Asked who he thought was the best AM disc jockey in the Metropolitan area, he replied without hesitation, “Dan Ingram.” I always thought of him as the best.” Sean feels that there is a need for talk shows in the business but to do one himself he wouldn't. “I wouldn't be good at it. Unless I would honestly feel that I would be one of the best or the best then I would consider, But I haven't had the experience and. I'm not a token. Basically I'm a very shy, introverted individual.” Sean's work doesn't end in the studio.! He makes many public appearances such as basketball games, and assemblies. Sometimes he will tape a few new songs for future use by himself and his cohorts. He may also keep abreast with the news so that if he might say something off the cuff about what he read, he might grasp another listening ear. His usual stint on the air is 3 hours a day during the week. On Saturday he does a 5 hour spot. But vacations, personal problems and public appearances by other jocks could have Sean working 7 days a week. Sean still produces and writes his own for this is his only outlet. I watched Sean on the air on a previous visit to DJ. I noticed that he dances, sings the songs while not on the air, and just basically gets into his work. I asked if he enjoyed his work, “I enjoy it tremendously. This is all I know”. If you’re ever driving around at 10:00 in the morning and aren’t in a very good mood, tune in to Sean Casey, he’s a very delightful fellow.
ADDENDUM
This is the second part of the article .
Page Six THE MONITOR January 2, 1973
by Len Paccione
WWDJ
From the moment I walked in the door the staff made me feel right at home. The personnel there are very friendly, and very efficient people. I was greeted by the station manager's secretary, Victoria, who introduced me to Mr. Nick Anthony. Mr. Anthony, who is the station manager of WWDJ, was very informative and answered my questions honestly, a quality ,which many executives lack today. He was concerned about what kind of music young people want to hear today, and what changes they would like to hear on the station. In speaking with Mr. Anthony, I found him to be an open minded 'businessman who sees that a successful station must change with the times to be successful. Mr. Anthony then told me of an experiment that WWDJ was to participate in. They plan to become the first AM stereo radio station. After talking with Mr. Anthony, I was taken on a tour of the station itself. I was amazed at the amount of equipment they had in the building. It was interesting to see how the shows are put together, and how much planning goes into a single day of broadcasting. I then went to see Sean Casey do his show. It's a strange feeling being able to see and hear a disc jockey, especially in the same room. Sean was great to watch, because he really gets into his work. Just watching him, it's easy to tell that he enjoys his work. I then returned to Mr. Anthony's office and asked him a few more questions about the station and set up an interview with Sean Casey. On our way out Mr. Anthony presented us with record albums and invited us back again. All in all it was a totally enjoyable and interesting day. I would again like to thank Mr. Anthony and the staff of WWDJ for their cooperation.
[WWDJ]
E-mail John at PORCAROCPU@Aol.com